Mosquito larvae control

By Karen

Last updated on July 16, 2018

Mosquito control is one thing that a lot of people think about once summer comes around, because mosquitoes is something we rather get rid of than tolerate. But adult mosquitoes aren’t your only concern when it comes to battling these annoying insects. Additionally to regular adult mosquito control, you really should also think about larvae control, because it will ensure that you get rid of not only those mosquitoes, that are bothering you now, but also those, that will soon mature into adult mosquitoes and will bother you after a little while.

It basically is the second stage of mosquito development, because if first mosquitoes are in egg form, then after 24 to 48 hour larvae emerge from the eggs, to spend about 4 to 14 days in this stage and then developing into pupa and few days later in full grown adult mosquitoes. During this larvae stage of mosquito growth the mosquito slowly develops and grows so once the time is right it can mature into an adult mosquito. But to be able to do so, the larvae not only breathes oxygen by resurfacing in regular intervals, because they live in standing water, but they also feed on any small particles of algae, fungi, bacteria and such that are in the water, to get as much energy as they can to mature.

So you see why you should be concerned about mosquito larvae, too, because larvae is the stage of mosquito development, in which they actually mature, enabling them to develop in full blown mosquitoes and biting you later in their life. So how do you get rid of these larva stage mosquitoes?

Like I mentioned before, mosquito larvae spends all their time in water, preferably standing water, because this allows them to get all the nutrients the larvae need to mature.

So the best way to get rid of larvae stage mosquitoes is to get rid of the water they are in. This is also the reason most mosquito control professionals say to dump all standing water, because this water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. So drain or dump all buckets, old tires, dishes and any other container, where water could collect, so the adult mosquitoes don’t lay their eggs there and the eggs don’t have a chance to mature into larva, pupa and then adult mosquitos. On top of that this way you will be also efficiently killing any larvae that is already in that water, providing that they don’t develop into adult mosquitoes.

However, if you cannot drain all water, for example if you have a pond or a fountain in your backyard, there is another way, how to get rid of the mosquito larvae. And this way is to use mosquito dunks in the water that you cannot get rid of. Mosquito dunks are made from special materials that dissolves in water and releases larvicide (larvacide) – a solution that is specially made to kill mosquito larva. One mosquito dunk will kill larvae in about 100 square feet area and will leave the water larvae free and its surrounding are mosquito free. Mosquito dunks are made with special bacterium that mosquito larvae like to eat, efficiently killing them. But, because these dunks are biological, they aren’t harmful to humans or animals and even after you have put in mosquito dunks you can still swim in that water and your pets can still drink it. So combat your mosquitoes by taking care of the larvae, too.